


The Name Game

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Feels Like Heaven [27]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 02:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6734761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I'm good with being Teddy and Ed and Captain Tucker and even occasionally Mothertucker.  That’s a pretty good one actually.  I'm good with being your man.  Are you good with being my woman?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Name Game

Once the shower went off, Liv turned on the sink. She spit out her Listerine and then rinsed her mouth out. When she looked into the mirror, wiping her mouth, Liv couldn’t help but smile. Ed was doing a quick wipe down. He ran the towel down his body and through his hair before wrapping it around his waist. He looked up, saw her smiling, and did the same.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“The towel is nice but without the towel…”

“Really?” he raised an eyebrow, walking across the bathroom and wrapping his arms around her.

“Mmm hmm. You’ve been working out more.”

“I have to keep up with you.” Ed kissed her neck. “You keep me young, baby.”

“The working out helps.”

Liv turned in his arms, running her fingers through his wet hair. Ed kissed her and it took her breath away. She grinned, putting her forehead on his damp shoulder. Ed stroked the back of her head.

“You should've come into the shower with me.” He whispered, kissing her again.

“There’s no way you would've gotten clean, Captain.” Liv sat up on the vanity when Ed lifted her.

“You had something else in mind?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“So are you just going to keep me in suspense?” he tilted her chin upward so Liv was looking at him.

“I could tell you, and it would be very nice. Or I could show you. I guarantee that will be nicer.”

Ed grinned, lifting her off of the vanity and carrying her into the bedroom. On the messy bed, with Ronin still relaxing at the bottom, Ed was quickly out of his towel and Liv’s tee shirt hit the floor. She let out breathless laughter between kisses and nibbles all over her neck. Then the whining started. They both froze for a moment, wanted to see if it was just a little thing or a big thing. Liv reached down to grab her tee shirt when they realized it was probably a big thing.

“I’ll be right back.” She kissed him. 

“Take your time, baby, we got all night.”

She smiled and left the room. Ed didn’t exactly want to get dressed, he wanted to stay undressed, but he got up from the bed and went to the top drawer. He and Liv were officially living together now and the top drawer was his pajamas and sweats. They were still making room for him but so far things had been really good. 

Sometimes Ed sat down and wondered whether they were a boring couple. Then he would laugh. He was never bored with Liv and Noah, and knew she wasn’t bored with him. They were a good couple, a loving couple, and almost a year in had brought some interesting and amazing changes in their lives.

“Hey.”

“Hmm?” Ed looked up from his phone. He had put on his sweats and was standing shirtless looking at his missed text messages.

“Someone wanted daddy.”

“I'm sorry?”

“Apparently its daddy’s turn tonight.” She said.

Liv was standing in the doorway of her bedroom holding Noah. He had the look on his face, the grouchy look. Ed smiled and held out his arms for him.

“What's the matter, buddy?” he walked across the room, taking drowsy Noah from his mother’s arms, and giving Liv a gentle kiss. She put her hand on his chest. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

Noah nodded, murmuring daddy as he buried his head in Ed’s shoulder. Ed whistled for the dog and Ronin got up from the bed to follow them out of the room.

“We’ll sing some sleepy songs and that should help.” Ed said rubbing his back. “Nothing like some sleepy songs to make a rainy night better.”

Liv stood in the doorway and watched them walk away. She just smiled, trying not to cry. She loved Noah more than anyone in the world. He was such a beautiful and amazing son. The way he took to Ed so soon after meeting him surprised her and eased Liv’s mind about her budding relationship. It helped her see Ed in a different light as everything about their lives changed. 

As an older single mom, Liv didn’t fool herself into thinking that finding a date, much less a life mate, would be easy. She'd wanted a child for so long, had taken losses that really hurt, so motherhood was going to have to outweigh a man. Then Ed Tucker walked into her life. Ed fuckin Tucker. And her son loved him. She loved him too. 

Going back over to the bed, Liv turned up the baby monitor so she could hear Ed and Noah in the nursery. They were talking a bit, and she imagined Ed either cuddling him in the rocking chair or sitting on the bed with him. Then Ed was singing, Tom Petty, which had quickly become Noah’s favorite bedtime songs. He was singing Into the Great Wide Open and she just smiled. How she and Noah got so lucky, Liv wasn’t quite sure that she would ever figure it out. 

She also wasn’t sure she’d ever put all the pieces of her heart together the way it exploded after she heard Noah call him daddy. She’d never had one, was sure she probably said the word a few times when she was his age. But her son was going to have one…he did have one. Oh wow, oh wow, this was a bit heavier than Liv thought things were going to get tonight.

“He's out like a light.” Ed walked back into the bedroom without the dog a little while later. “At least I think he is. Ronin will stay for a while; I think Noah has him in the Kung Fu grip. The sleepy songs plus the rain…as long as that thunderstorm doesn’t roll through later on he’ll probably sleep through the night.”

“C'mere.” Liv got up on her knees on the bed and held out her arms.

“Are you alright, baby?” he walked into her strong embrace.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” Ed stroked her hair. “Are you alright?”

“Noah called you daddy.” She wiped away the tears and tried to hold the onslaught at bay. “He called you daddy on the baby monitor too. I was listening.”

“Are you…should we…what am I trying to say?”

“I don’t know.” Liv laughed and shook her head.

“If it makes you uncomfortable then we should talk about it.” He said.

“It doesn’t.”

“OK.” He nodded.

“It’s been almost a year.” Olivia caressed Ed’s cheek. “All the stuff that happened with Johnny D, the adoption being finalized, Nick making the decision to move to California, my taking the Lieutenant’s exam, and then you.”

“Me?” Ed tightened his arms around her waist.

“Yes, you. You're daddy now. It’s been almost a year and you're daddy.”

“I'm good with being daddy. I'm good with being Teddy and Ed and Captain Tucker and even occasionally Mothertucker. That’s a pretty good one actually. I'm good with being your man. Are you good with being my woman?” he wiped her tearstained cheeks.

Liv nodded and kissed him. There were probably a million more things to say but the flow was going and they were going with it. It was good. It wasn’t strange or uncomfortable or happening too fast. 

Every obstacle and every milestone, they both found a way to overcome and celebrate it. This was a serious relationship; it was work and play and kids and date nights. It was something Liv had never quite experienced on this level. Someday she would find just the right words to tell Ed she was so glad it was finally with him.

“You know,” he toyed with the hem of her tee shirt. “You were gonna show me some things before Noah woke up. You still wanna show me?”

“I do, Captain. I'm really glad you only got half-dressed. There's a lot less to take off.”

“Taking off your clothes is much more fun anyway.” Ed grinned. He got up on his knees too, lifting Liv’s tee shirt over her head. “Now we’re even.”

“Last one out of their bottoms is on the bottom.” Liv said.

They both fell over on the bed, laughing, trying to get undressed the quickest.

***


End file.
